Eontents Vol.18, No.1; January 2005 Cee eT FEATURES 8 VAF DC-7 Generation 4 Kit Speakers Theyre smaller and more atfordabe than the DC-X mode but stl oer excdlent sonstiviy and perormance by Phip Vatads & Simon Wide 12. Build Yourself A Windmill Generator, Pt2 ‘washing machine motor makes a cheap and elective alternator but rs you ‘eed to make afew modifications ~by Gon Litetord 40 Review: Tektronix TPS2000 Series LCD Oscilloscopes They're baitery-powered, fulyisolaled and are ideal oc power measurements fanalysls, 22 woll as all he usual tasks ~ by Petr Sith PROJECTS TO BUILD 24 Build A V8 Doorbell fs the sound ofa V8 engine musi to your ears? This project wil give a deep- throated V8 tumble when your ant coorbel is pressed ~by John Clarke 34 IR Remote Control Checker Check your remota controls wih this simple project! will quickly tel you if the remotes dead or Vane or more butons hae stopped working ~ by Jim Rowe 60 4-Minute Shower Timer ‘The sound of running water stars a 4-minute countdown to an annoying alarm. Ins easy to Buld foo, as the PC board comes pre-assembled ~ by Foss Tester A 66 Wanna Go Prawning? You'll Need The Prawnlite You can pay twenty or tir bucks for ako of prawns. uld our Prawnte and sou Gan catch tho Ite beggars yoursoll~by Branko Justc & Ross Testor 76 Simon Says Nostalgia ~ it int what it used tobe! Here's a PC-based update ofa popular {game rom the 19708 by Cive Seagar SPECIAL COLUMNS 44 Serviceman’s Log What’ cooking? ifs just the TV set~ by the TV Serviceman 82 Vintage Radio Outback communications: the Flying Doctor radios - by Rodhey Champness 92 Circuit Notebook (1) Litiu-Polymer Peak Charger (2 ticient Fan Speed Controle, (9) Simple White Noise Generator (4) PICAXE:Based Toy Talc Lights With Battery Saver; () 12V Halogen Lamp Dimmer DEPARTMENTS Po 2 Publisher's Letter 89 Book Review 4 Mailbag 97 Ask Silicon Chip 57 Product Showcase 100 Notes & Errata 59 Silicon Chip Weblink 101 Market Centre 65 Order Form 103 Ad Index siticonchip.com.au Jaxuany 20051Manager Greg Swain, B.Sc,(Hons}) ‘Technical Editor Potor Smith Technical Staff John Clarke, B.E (Elec) Foss Taster ‘dim Rowe, BA., B.Sc, VK2ZLO Reader Services ‘Ann Jenkinson Advertising Enquiries Phil Benodictus, Laurence Smith Benedictus Smith Pry Lid Phone (02) 9211 9782 Fax: (02) 9211 0068 ‘SLUOON Gris published 12 times ‘a year by Slicon Chip Publications Py Lid, ACN 003 206 490. ABN 49 (003 208 480 All material copyright ‘©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the writan ‘consent ofthe publisher. Printing: Hannanprint, Noble Park, Vetarla, Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $83,00 per yar in Australia. For overseas fates, see the subscription page in this issue. Editorial & advertising offices: Unit8, 101 Darley St, Mona Vale, NSW 2103, Postal address: PO Box 150, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2007. Phone (02) 9979 5644, Fax (02) 979 6508, E-mall slchip@sliconchip.com.aus ani commended and maximum pie ony, PUBLISHER’S LETTER Cheap audio equipment is no bargain [At least 28 yoots ago, the American Federal ‘trade Commission (FTC) issued rales tothe Mit Industry which effectively stopped manufactur trsfTom making outrageous elatins about audio power output. For oxample, the FTE seta one four precondition tot a 40% ofthe ampli power rating as ono ofthe exiteia to be met. thor wardasitan amplifier was tobo rated at 100 Wats per channel, it had to bo able to withstand testing at 40 watts per channol for an hour, before the full powor test was performed ‘hero wore screams of protest rom the menufacturer atthe time, b it just s0 happened that the 40% test condition was quis onarous an nel fat off the maximum povter dissipation In an amplifier moant that the amplifiers needed good power supplies and goneroshectsinks oo abo to toe the testing rime. ut It wos good for consumers, avery shor ime, outrageous power output claims disappeared and amplifier designs bocams mich more conservative in thelr nginooring which ultimately sosulted In long ie and vory good performance 'As in so many other aspects of echnology, Australia benefited from these oversea regulations but tow, inca the vant ejorty of consumer lactone equipment comes from Asia te benoits of those rogustons have disp pated. We now havo the ludicrous situation where flea powered home thoatre oquipmontcan come with claims of 8000 watts outpat, even though its tra output is only a fow wats porchonnel. Ifyou want ovdenew of ts, sist one ofthe consuier lectronies sore at you local shopping mall ot have alook at wiat's being offered on Ebay. Tr you look more closely, you might find that such huge power atngs are accompanied by the lottere“PMPO™ sanding for peak muse power output tmnt even goingo ty toexplaino astiy those tious tings they are just nonsense. Infact, a pisco of eo ot home theatre equipstont makes fny refernce to “PMPO" itis far bet that itis junk and it you buy tt will end up onthe council clean-up ina vory short ime ‘The same comments can made about alot of aftermarket car equipment. Some ofthe caine nbout car speakers dety loge, Peoplo are buying cor speakers on tho bass that a 400W spoaor must be beter and louder tran 2000 speaker and of course the rotlrs seldom provide any Uoefl guide. Infact, is entirely possible that» 400W loudspeaker could be loss oft than a competing 100W speakor and thoofor wil not bo as loud fora given power inpat Sadly tsoansas though there is no government consumor advocate whohas tho kil or willingness to make regulations or guidelines for most conrumet slecttonic equipmont ta th absento of guidelines or regulations, consumers tre buying lot of junk end it soon end up inland Unfrtunaicly, even when there aro no autrogeous power claims, a great deal of low-cost slocronic audio equipment sola these days junk anyeray fnd it seldom lasts for more than a yer For examplo, in many’ small aud Syoteins, the CD player packs up ater not alot of ue nd iis aot wort gee, ting it repaited after the warrenty has run oul ‘As an informed reader of St1coN CP, you can helpless informed people by advising thor to stick (othe beter known brands ofequipment which comes wrth a ono or two-year warranty and avotd the st ha sally chap, Leo Simpson 2 SWICON Cup siliconchip.com.auMounts on the back of a standard LCD monitor The best of bath wold - Yu only need one terminal no mater what sjstem you ae using, emulates SCO, DEC, Wyse et terminal as well as being a Windows Based Terminal. 1 supports the ful ange of Windows ROP as wel as Gtx IA protec, And the est part = it measures only 188 x 138 x 40 and has standard ESA (LCD Monitor) mounting. This means that it an aach diet to the back ofan LCD monitor, Foret trie ea toot rf rl ants orybe ‘a oust ype crc hse, wn 2 64 PL ae cie.rst2 7 $1 aes Ser Cat 1239-7 $649 To Fal ser rcs Pe Te Sat Get ff enor ane enol ‘gent sree gest ff are s Ussyourlsp MCA ff ressretari PSC arf tanes cn ant to case? 5268 on de cass came $70 ThisPolcard sina tat ato for soare sens > Cases bot nag ne cb orn nuds ite adhe ew ayo se utp ctl wn sae re rita port sng sf Aon combs se it secs ahs. snes torts Pan rn ‘Ths ty aa USB 20 ro tone ca, at Us arya eves os Fre. cover aut a ff TasaterigA gears f eance aniny &e cama be pane yr ff wrasse Ae inbxtrd 26.01 may fF ba az ha TKP ff yous ya : {i tbs SP pose. cadet, suarccatin ‘wot SP lates LO asa, Us) 620 al cnt. SMM cele Sam CUT Me Ph: (02) 4389 8444 FreoFax: 1800 625 77 Vat Py nga eraram Computers 55009 9:2 18, 1/16 Bon ‘Al pene subject to change witout nota For arent pring Ou products & more on our website...www.mMAILBAG 42V car electrics a labour hazard Your article on 42V car electrics in the November 2004 issue was most enlightening (no pun intended). However, it brings to mind possible problems with regard to the qualifica tions of people. In Queensland, there is a specifi- cation for ELV (Extra Low Voltage). To the best of my knowledge, this is defined as 32V AC. At or below this ELY, no licence is required to install or maintain wiring and equipment, ‘Above this voltage, an electrician’s liconce is required, ‘The ELV specification allowed the installation of 32V electrical systems in remote homesteads, otc. I wonder what the licensing authoritios will make of the 42V DC systems in ear. Will all motor mechanics have to have qualifications as electricians? Brian Claney, Roma, Qld. Comment: no doubt the poor mis guided Queensland authorities will seek to put some further hobbles on industry there, Unwired coverage ‘map not real road Ross Toster's November 2004 report on the “Unwired” wireless broadband modem with consider- able iniorast. A quick check on the “Unwired” website revealed that 1 was ina “pink” area; ie, ono with suf- ficient signal for reliable operation. I purchased a unit Alas, despite diligent efforts, 1 could not detect a signal in my com- puter room, nor any other convenient locations. Murphy's Law prevailed, however, and lobiained a weak, inter: nittont signal in @ most inconvenient location! called the technical hot-line and it became apparent thet my modem transceiver was capturing a towor in Lidcombe in Sydney, approximately 15km from my house, bypassing two hearor towers. No matter what we did, wo could not encourage the unit to capture the noarest tower (in Ryde) and secure a moro reliable signal. On reflection, it became clear tome that the pink - “so you can purchase” region is simply a computer generated “prediction” of the coverage area. It probably has some basis in theory ‘but actual signal strength? Unlikely. A look back at tho relevant website page reveals quite a few disclaimers! Tlove the ideaofhigh-specd Internet access. I just hope that many of your other readers do not waste their time as [have. Gary Johnston, Hunters Hill, NSW. Rural mobile phone ‘overage is poor Re your editorial entitled “Fixed Phone Lines No Longer A Necessity" in tho November 2004 issue. Widen your horizons a little. Out here in the rest of Australia, mobile phone service isat best patchy and for enything like Internet without landlines, you had botter have really deep pockets and very long arms. ‘Wo actually live on Highway A32 (the only one from Adelaide to Sydney ‘through Broken Hill) and in this town mobile phone coverage is essentially non-existent. How about helping the rest of Australia with your editorials instead of painting a silly and very misleading picture of everything be- ing just peachy? Art Clarke, Manoora, SA. Gomment: The editorial is in no way anendorsement of mobile phone cov- erage in the country. For those peo- ple who do have a reasonable mobile Phone service where they live(and the vast majority do), the editorial is cor- rect and is backed up by Telstra's own recent report that fixed line revenue is falling, ‘As you state, country coverage is poor and unwired broadband services in rural areas may never happen. Hidden danger in autotransformer connection The circuit shown in the November Issuo page 86 is very elogant. However, there is one very important warning hich I was given over 30 years ago when [tried the samearrangemont for work, fone ofthe primary leads comes adrift with the secondary still con- nected, then the voltage on the loose wire will be the voltage drop across the secondary winding multiplied by the turns ratio. This could be a very high voltage in the order of a thousand volts with a 20 to 1 turns ratio, Thisis another reason toonclose the transformerin a securebox, My design ‘was refused for safety reasons. Paul Niehoff, Blackburn, PICAXE pin terminology justified Following the recent discussions over port/pin/leg terminology (See SILICON Cal, November 2004, page 92} I would like to provide’ some background to the situation. The frst microcontroller BASIC language was developed by Parallax for their Stamp system around 1992. They used the word pin within input docisions such as “if pind = 1 then” Unfortunately, this has now become tho universal standard used within at least a dozen microcontroller BASIC applications that lam aware of ‘We don't particularly like this termi- nology but unfortunately thas bocome the standard that most users expect, ‘Noto also that the word PORT hasa dit: ferent usago within this original BASIC language and so cannot be used. Within the PIGAXE systom, we have always provided an altornative to the BASIC terminology ‘pin0’ in the form of inputo’. Therefore usars can type ‘ifinputo =1 then’ to achieve the same task as if pind = 7 then’. This is our preferred terminology that wo tend 4 Sutcon Cue sliconchio.com.auAulotransformer connection not ideal Your circuit for an auto- transformer as published fon page 86 of the your November 2004 issue of, SuLicon CuiP does not show the recommended manner of connecting up an autotransformer. You have achieved a voltage reduction by con= nocting the secondary of the transformer in such ‘a way that its voltage op- poses the primary voltage. Although it works, itis not the most effective way of reducing the mains volt- age. It is easier to see the problem if your circuit is redrawn as in Fig.1, 80 that the autotransformer resembles a tapped coil such as is often used in high frequency circuits 28a. (which is effectively what fan autotransformer i), In this case, once the “tapping” is made, the remainder of the “coil” is wound in the reverse di rection (the same way that anon induc tive resistor is wound). The primary of the transformer has to carry the full ‘mains voltage and the secondary has to bear the full load current. Fora 21.60. load, the transformer would need to be rated at 240VA. The more logical (and usual) way to connect an autotransformer is to connect the secondary so that its voltage adds to tho primary voltage. For a voltage reduction, the load is ‘connected to the “tapping”. This is FG shown is Fig 2 Neither winding carries the full ‘mains voltage nor bears the full load current so the voltage and current im each winding of the transformer hhave been reduced by 9.1% and the transformer now needs to be rated at 200.3VA ~ a reduction of 16.5% over your circuit. Ifa full 10% voltage reduction was needed then you would noed a 240V to 26.67V transformer and it would nnoed to be rated at 216VA, Greg Schoenmakers, via email. to use in our educational datasheets ‘when possible. Its of interest to note ‘that most other BASIC languages don't even offer an alternative as we do, ‘Due to the historical confusion over the term pin (which is beyond our contol), we took the decision to not, to rofarto ‘physical external pins’ via the torm ‘pin’ within our educational projects as we felt it could confuse the target audience (13-14 year olds). feel using the term ‘leg’, although nat necessarily “professional”, does cor siiconchip.com.au rectly describe to a 13-year old child ‘what we are talkingabout (without any confusion over the term ‘pin’) I fully appreciate that electronic en- singers may not like the ‘leg’ term but ‘we beliove itis in the best interest of the target audience of the educational worksheots. Within SiLicon Chie T fully understand why you and your readers would prefer not to use the term ‘leg’ and so T would recommend that in tho future authors talk about ‘physical pins’ and use the terminol- Atmel’s AVR, from JED in Australia JED has designed a range of single board computers and modules as a way of using the AVR without SMT board design The AVRS7O module (above) 5 a way of using an ATmegat26 CPU on s user base Bosra without having layout neincate, suface-mountod surrounds oh CPU, ard ‘hen having fo manufacture your Board on [an SMT robo ine. Instead you simply layout 2 square for our 0.1 spaced socket sips ‘and: plug In our pre-ested module. The module has the ctysal,resttor, AVFLISP brogramming header (ahd an optional TAG. ICE pad), as woll as programming signa ‘ching For aise extra, wo nada 081305 FTG, crystal and Li baitery underneath, vweich uses SPI and por. See JED's www site fora datasheot. |AVRS73 Single Board Computer This boara uses the AVAS7O module ang adds 20 An Dg inputs, 12 FET outs, LOD! ba 28232, F485, 1-Wre, power rg, $330 PC-PROM Tis programmer plugs into a FC printer ort and roacs, writes and eis any 28 or 2p PROM. Comes wit plug-pack cable and softwar, Aso avaiblisa muli-PROM UV eraser ‘ith mer and 3282 PLUG converter. 4JED Microprocessors Pty Ltd 178 Boronia Rd, Boronia, Vitoria, 3185 Ph. 03 9762 3588, Fax 03 9762 5499 www. jedmicro.com.au Janvany 2005 8nn CL ee Is there enough spectrum spaco ogy ‘if inputd = 1 then’ in programs. mission directions. [think the bottom available? If we all decided to ditch This avoids any historical ‘pin’ word line is: usa broadband if you want to our fixed line phones, our ADSL and confusion which, unfortunately, is use internet telephony and ask your cable internet and go wireless, would beyond our control service provider about the difference there be enough spectrum capacity to Clive Seager, Technical Director, in upload and download connection cope or would spectrum pollution rise Revolution Education Ltd. speods before signing up. tothe point where the system became Gunter Seidel, unreliable? Electric fence revives battery Alice Springs, NT. I belong to an orgenisation that Thave recently revived a discarded uses wireless microphones on the PA carbattery by connecting ittoan elec- Fixed line phones lower in cost system at our meeting place. A visitor tric fence for a month. Maybe this is Iwould ikotocomment on some of from the USA said that over there peo- old hat, Before the fence treatment the the points raised in your editorial and ple axe abandoning radio mikes and battery wouldnotretain enough charge the article on wireless broadband in” going back to cords because spectrum tostartacarovernight. Afertreatment the November 2004 issue. The sugges- pollution is making wireless inikes too itretains charge for a week. tion that having only @ mobile phone unseliabo. ‘A-month might soom a long time is cheaper than a fixed line phone [realise thet the analog FM system to wait for aresult but hey, itdoesn't certainly isn't true for me and my used on radio mikes is different to the cost anything family, I looked at my most recent sophisticated sproad-spectrum digital Frank Murphy, phone bill and worked out what it systems of today’s wireless communi- email. would have cost if we had made all cation networks but I still think that Comment: that’s interesting. It is our calls (excluding dial-up internet) the more wireless gadgets we embrace, similar in concept to the Battery by mobile the morechuttered and noisy ourspoc- Desulphator circuit published in the "The cost came to more than three tram space will become. February 2003 issue. times what we paid for making the Ray Chapman, calls on our fixed line phone, includ- via email Upload/download discrepancy ing line rental, ete. 1 lookod ita fow causes problems with VoIP different mobiie plans ~ not just the Wanted: a laptop with Thank you for publishing that pre-paid plan we have on our mobile a bright screen informative article on VoIP internet but none came even close to being _On the front cover of the November telephony in the September 2004 comparable to the fixed line cost 2004 issue there is a picture of a man issue. Telstra should be quaking in I find it rather objectionable that _usinga laptop computer in bright sun- their boots! However, those read- someone would choose to have only light with an obviously very visible ers who like me are still waiting for @ mobile phone and then expect mo colour screen. Are you able to tell me broadband to become available might — to pay the high call cost if 1 want to what brand the computer is and the ‘be well advised to check their dial-up cal them from my fixed phona. This type of seroon please? connection speeds in both directions is especially so with businesses. I''m I ask the question because I have a before rushing in. With many service looking for a particular product and back porch whero I would like to goon providers and Telstra/Bigpond in have a choice of companies to call, nice days and be able to do computing particular, there is a largo discrep- those that only give a mobile phone and soak up some of the supposedly ‘ancy between download and upload number don’tget my call, espocielly if _usoful reflected sun's rays! Two previ- connection speeds. Teed to ask lengthy questions about ous laptops did not perform well in When testing the “Skype-Out” — the product, et. the bright light; they were back-Lit internet telephone operation on my I'm not sa sure that Telstra should screens. system, 1 could hear the other side be so worried by the increase of wire- My present desk-top computor is @ (downloaded) clearly tera short time loss communication since their wired powerful machino, as Tuseit forgraph- delay (0.5 soconds or less) but in the network is still needed. After all, fT ics, photographs and text. [know thore other direction there was time delay use my mobile to call another mobile are laptop computers out there which of several seconds — up to 10 seconds on thootherside ofthe city, the “wire- are ustas powerful as this onebut lam in effect and very often it was broken less” part of the signal path is quite principally interested in what appears up or garbled. Itosted this by ringing short ~ from my mobile to the nearest to be an outstanding scroon. up my own mobile phone from the _ base station and from the nearest base internet phone, to the phone I'm calling. The signal Having an alternative service pro- is still mostly carried by the copper Comment: Oops! We've been caught vvider to Bigpond, I tried that as well and/or fibre-optic network, doing something that photographers and [ was having much better results I would imagine that the wireless and graphic artists have been doing for although there was still a noticeably broadband internet system would be many years - artificially embellishing difforenttime delay between thetrans- thesame, Anomployee of Telstra once video screens. 6 Smicon Cup siiconchip.com.auIts done to just about eve tograph you evar s P and magazines, of any type of video monitor; including TV sets. wereason tis doneis that itis very dificult to adequately photograph ‘monitor with its screen on and get a 00d result for both the monitor (in this case a computer) and the screen You have to overexpose significantly toget the screen detail which of course doesn’t mako the rest of the picture look much good. Therefore, two exposures are taken, cone of the scroen and one of the rest, With computer software used to marry the two shots. Or if its a computer monitor, it's likely to bea “scraen cap- turo” that is dropped in, rather than a second photographic exposure In the case ofthe cover you are talk- ing about, the image on the screen in direct sunlight was very subdued, as ‘you would expect. So as far as your enquiry is concerned, that computer ‘won't do what you want. I's on @ par with most other laptops/notebooks as far as brightness is concerned. ‘TVs should have digital tuners Keith Walters has quite correctly described the mess that is digital tel vision (Mailbag, December 2004 is- sue). But there are other aspects of the situation which Ifind quite s bizarre. How isi that, nearly three years alter the introduction of digital TV, very low roceivers are sold with digital tuners? Even if you pay thousands of dollars for a big plasma TV you will still be expected to accommodate another box to house the receiver, AAs it happens, my personal gripe is not with the display as I can't af- ford a big scroen set and Iam happy with my 28-year old 4:3 set. have a digital sot top box which has proved tobean excellent investment to avoid tho intermittont electrical interference which often spoils my reception of the VHF channels, But also liketo record broadcasts fortime-shifting, Although Thave a DVD recorder and a recent- ‘model VCR, neither has adigital tuner ‘and neither can record the output of the set-top box using its timer, So either I use the timer to record broadcast plus interforence or I have to be on hand to press the record but ton when using the digital signal. How stupid is this? ‘The Federal government has done its best to cripplo digital TV and it sooms to me that it has been aided and abotted in this task by the equipment manufacturers. Sometimes life gives us an unex: pected bonus. I bought the set-top box to avoid interforence but I was delighted to find that I could use it to fill the screen with @ 600-line picture instead of the 00 (or less) that the broadcasters expoct me to use. Mostly it doosn’t matter that I lose a bit at the sides of the picture. Similarly, Ireplaced my old VCR be- cause Twas fed with havingto reset the clock every time we had a momentary power cut. Thenew machine holds its settings for three years, But I find it has a couple of other useful features. Inever expected to use the “extended play” setting but during the Olympics twas useful torecord up tonine hours on 3-hour tape and play some of it the next morning with quite reasonable quality. ‘And the indexing feature which locates the beginning of a recording rapidly and accurately is really useful. It may be a mature technology but it still has a lot going for it RFID implants While reading the Publisher's Letter in the December 2004 edition, T was amazed that anyone could seriously entertain the idea of implanting RFID chips into people. Human nature being ‘what itis would mean that this tech~ nology would be oxploited by various groups in society, leading to an ara of {inequality and discrimination not seen in this country before. If the chips were made mandatory, either as an implant or built into a smart version of a driver's license, two things would be guaranteed to happen. Fist, the goveramont would ultimately end up placing RFID readers in every public place to help with “the war on terror”, raising the question of why they would want to know where everybody is all the time, ‘More ofan issue would be the use of RFID readersby business. There would becompanies that would pay shops to place the readers in every storeandal- Towthemto collect dataon what shops you gotoand what and how often you bby. Before anyone talks about legisla Vion only allowing the government to sccess the data, nancial Institutions ‘would cll forthe data to stop credit tard fraud, prove ID, etc and most probably they would go This deta on your spending habits would bo used (o push products that you may be interested in (although not necessrly needing or wanting) Imagine going into a car dealer, only togetan SMS abouta "special limited time only” finance deal. Ifyou think telemarketers ave bad now, then this thay be your word nightmare, With an RFID system, you have no control aver wh teas your number and theassoctated data hat marketing Companigs may havecollecta. Atte ‘moment, you can choose whom you five this data to but with an RFID tag Under your skin you most deBnitely can not Having & form of identifi tion that can be read without your Knowledge or consent would open ¢ vast aay of issues that would make ven George Orll cringe Tay Herbert, via email Comment ike it oF not, marketing companies already have lots of data about you and your socio-economic froup ond they ase it however they wish without any chotce by you Halogon lamps and UV I want to comment on previous discussion about halogen down-lights and their high UV content (see page 109, November 2004 issue). I neaded some UV to harden some plastic. 1 wont to the major hardware retailer ‘and could only find covered dichroic lamps in stock. Single 12V 50W halogen lamps were labelled as zero UV. [purchased a240V 150W halogen lamp but when tested, zero UV was present. Amazed at this, Teventually found an old uncovered dichroic lamp mounted in the ceiling and it proved to have significant UV output. The manufacturers must have changed the glass type to eliminate the UV. The moral ofthis story is that things change, sh Brown, via email. ‘siliconchip.com.au January 2005-7‘The 170mm black composite Kevlar woofers are specially made to VAF's specifications. version of VAF's legendary DC-X loudspeaker pre: sented in the August 2004 issue of SILICON C¥P? Maybe you liked the speakers but their imposing size and price presented some big hurdles. The new DC-7 G4 described here should be considered as a DC-X ona smaller scalo, Still very accurate, with high sensitivity and low dis- tortion, the DC-7 Gat is more compact and room friendly. Inessence, thenew VAF DC-7 Gat consists of two woofer one tweeter and a slim floor -standing cabinet, in a dosign along the same general lines as the DC-X sories. However, there is more to it than that First ofall the woofers and tweeters are far from ordinary, ‘The 170mm diameter Black Composite Kevlar cone woot ers have been specially made to VAF's specifications. They feature T-shaped pole pieces and large, high-temperature voice coils, ‘The spider and voice coll are also vented using the same D: you admire and drool over the new Generation 4 Cumulative Spectral Decay of the DC-7 G4, Note how fast tal decay is. The faster the speaker decays, ‘anew sound it reproduces can be heard. siliconchip.com.au fe ‘Note the unusual vented voice coil & vented spider arrangement significantly reducing thermal compression and secondary resonance issues. method as inthe largor woofers in the DC-X sexies, This provides dramatically improved voice coil cooling which significantly reducos thermally related compression ‘Anadditional benefit is that no ai strapped behind the voice coll. This motor structure offers exceptional dynamie linearity, providing a linaar excursion of 7mm and a total excursion of over 12mm, The composite cone has been moulded using rsins that provide exceptional damping. VAF then St the cones with two proprietary pads to further enbanco propagation of sound through the cone. ‘Tho cono edge is terminated in a very compliant high loss soft rubber surround and specially tieated with a proprietary decoupling ring. In addition, these drivers are ‘magnotically shielded. Finding a single twooter sonsitive enough for the new DG-7 G4 but still being of very high quality proved to be a challenge. All the tweeters that were originally tested wore ‘The step response is almost ideal. The steep vertical rise ‘woofers and tweeter have good time alignment. Janvany 2005 9Note the unusual heatsink fitted to the DC-7 Ga tweeter, either not sensitive enough or not accurate enough. The specified tweetor has a high temperature-resist ant voice coil, rare-earth magnets, a 25mm treated silk diaphragm, a high-loss surround and Forro-Fluid cooling, for the voice coil. An integral shallow horn in front of the dome is carefully shaped to provide a flat overall response and efficient air-coupling, The tweeter is deeply recessed in the cabinet bafile to ensure time alignment. This ensures that signals from the tweeter and woofers rach the listener's ears at precisely the same time. This is shown by thostop response measurement ‘which has an almost perfact vertical lead-in with a smooth rotum to reference level. This is a text-book result. ‘The heavy cabinet also features angled bracing to min\- mise resonancos in the panels and to act as reflectors to minimise the acoustic rellections inside the enclosure. In ‘normal cabinet this reflected energy eventually returns to the woofers and is radiated into the room. This is ean Imgtse Rape — ate ‘The speaker connection terminals show they are capable of bi-emping: removing the straps between the pairs allows you ‘to-use separate amplifiers for bass and troble, for example. mask the direct sound being reproduced by the woofers and can compromise fidelity VAF have targeted Stored Energy in other ways too, As any tweeter radiates its sound forward italso radintes some, ofits sound across the baffle, Ifthis sound reaches a cabinet edge it will be re-radiated and this will muddy the sound. ‘These effects are combatted by the soft pads eround the twoeter; these are highly efficient acoustic absorbers. They have two separate layers which have distinct individual shapes to effectively eliminate cabinet-rlated diffraction from the tweeter, ‘A large quantity of VAF's Hypersoft III Foam also fills the cabinet in critical areas, ensuring that internal reflec tions at higher frequencies are woll attenuated, This is, demonstrated by the very fast Cumulative Spectral Decay rosponse. VAF believe that if acoustic problems are dealt with fundamentally and directly at their source, the resulting THO 5 a oS TT TT ORI aes a ET ‘The Impulse response settles in under 0.amsS, 10 SuIcON CHP 12a 209 Mn: fron Bone Frequency Response of the DC-7 Ga, Note how flat and smooth this response is even around the transition 3KHz to SkEIz crossover area, ‘sifconchip.com.auA close up view of the j tweeter area (centre of photo) showing the two individual layers of diffraction control. CB Fidelity will be superior to the more normal design approach of using complex electrical crossovers to cover them 1p. This attention to detail enables tho use of a far simpler crossover which even so, uses 1% tolerance resin-bound, aip-cored inductors, close-tolerance polypropylene capaci tors and non-inductive close-tolerance resis VAP supply the crossovers fully assembled with the labelled wiring loom already attached so assembly is very straightforward Mit tua® siiconchip.com.au SPECIFICATIONS Frequency response ..43H2~20kH2z (1/2-ocave smoothed) Phase response........ 15° trom 200Hz-20k#2 Harmonic distortion 0.9% from 40He-20KHzat 9308 Nominal impedance... 80 (40 minimum) Sensitivity. S348/1W @ tm Dimensions. 1050 x 193 x 300mm (waxd) Weight. 36kg pair Standard finishes include Book Matched, Crown Cut Oak (as shown here) or Jarcah (as shown, on page 8). Genuine Black Oak is also available, Kit prices & how to buy VAF make these new speakers in three different forms. ‘kits without cabinets: these include all the parts required to build a fall patr of speakers but without the cabinets of cabinet materials. CAD drawings are provided for those who want to make the cabinets themselves, This is the lowest cost option at $709 per par. full kit including precision made, fully assembled and finished cabinets can be bought for just $1399 per pair. Standard finishes include book matched, crown cut oak, jarrah and gonuine black oak ‘TheDC-7 Gét loudspeakers can alsobe purchased bought fully assembled for $1599 pair in the same finishes, $42 fully insured freight applis to each kit option and covers most locations in Australia, Kils can only be purchased directly from VAF Researc Phona 1800 818 882 (free call) or fax 08 8363 9997, They are not available in shops Email orders can be directed to vaf@vaf.com.au VAP make a wide variety of loudspeakers. Se the full range at wnew-vaf.com.au, se 0051Part 2 - the alternator by Glenn Littleford* Have you ever wanted to build a decent-sized wind turbine to help charge those batteries? Are you handy with basic hand tools and a welder? Well, here’s Part 2 of our Windmill project, based on a motor from a washing machine, a few odd car parts, some timber for the blades and a kit “platform” to hold it all together. siiconchip.com.au 32 Suicon GHP‘magnet hub, top right the stator, the retaining plates and nut. We started this i couple of years ago as an experi- ment and it has since developed infonot only a roliable wind generator but a rewarding hobby. Please note that what is described here Is not a complete system but an Ideas platform, to allow you to develop ‘your own windmill, ‘The results depend on your own abilities and the final location of the windmill. But with care in construc- tion, especially the propeller blades and a position with 20km/h or h ‘wind speeds, you can expect toachieve output powers of 300W or better. Construction will be divided into three sections: alternator, platform, and bledes. ‘This month we will concentrate on the alternator. Next month will be for the platform to support the alterna- tor, propeller and tail assembly and after that we will show you how to makea set of high-performance timber blades. But first up a reality check: are you sure you want to build a windmill of this scale? You're going to need at leas an acre of land ~ it's not a good idea erecting a two-metre di- amoter windmill on a six-metro mast ‘“Wwwwithebackshed.com in your suburban back yard, unless you get along VERY well with your neighbors! Some people consider windmills visual pollution and will complain. And you should get approval from the local authorities before putting up the mast. In addition, you will need good average winds and a location ‘with a clear view (from the windmills perspective). This windmill won't generate any useful power unless the Wind speed is over 20km/h. Noise Despite what many think, windmills are not noisy. You will not normally hear any noise from a windmill unless you aro almost standing next to it (or A badly corroded drive shaft. This might be OK for bench testing but ‘wouldn't stick a big propeller on it January 2005 13Exploded view of the motor from a F&P service manual, We need everything with the exception of item 2,a hall effect sensor used to detect ‘the hub (item 5) position. unless the bearings are shot!) In high winds there isa distinctive “whooshing” noise but it's not any Jouder than the wind blowing through the trees. There Is, however, always some vibration produced by the alternator and this can travel down the mast For this reason I recommend you don't mount your windmill on the roof of your house ~ the drone could be unbearable, Sourcing the motor The hart of the windmill is the Fisher & Paykel Smartdrive motor, as used in Fisher & Paykol washing machines manufactured since the late Use a screwdriver to lift up the interconnecting leads to make cutting easier. 14 SuicoN Cru 1990s, Tho Smartdrive is basically a huge stepper motor, wired in a3-phase star contiguration and consists of a fixed statorand a hub containing mag. nets thatrotates around the stator. The stator consists of 42 poles constructed of steel laminations embedded in plastic. Stator diameter {s 250mm. ‘The hub has 36 magnets embedded in plastic, with hidden steel laminations to complete the magnet circuit. For our windmill we use the stator, hub, and also the stainless stoel drive shaft, bearings and stator retainer plates from the washing machine. In this article the Fisher & Paykel motor will be referred to as the “Alterna: tor" each group. ‘The FeP ‘Smartdrive stator before modification, As the Smartdrive has been around for several yoars now, they are start- ing to show up in recycling yards and dumps and can often be picked up for 2 few dollars If you can got hold of a complete washing machine, all the better, as there is a collection of springs and bits that could come in handy for fu ture projects. Removing the motor is a relatively simple task, requiring no special tools, And the motor controller has some fancy electronics, inchudinga pressure sensorand power mosfats which could ‘come in handy. Electrical repair shops are another source for Fisher & Paykel parts: find your local repair agent Lay down the first bus lead and solder the first coil lead from siliconchip.com.auich with 14 poles. 1 will be divided into 7 sections, each with 6 poles, and offer them universal currency (a carton of beer) in xchange for a couple of used Smartdrive motors from their scrap bin, You might get lucky! Or you can buy the motor parts new from Fisher & Paykel agents at a rvasonable cost. What to avoid ‘There aro a couple of things to look out for when sourcing your motor parts Shorted Windings: Water ingress into the windings causes coppar corrosion and shorting between the coils, or to the steel laminations, making the stator worth loss Corroded Shaft: The shaft noeds to support the woight and thrust of the propeller, so make sure there is no seri- ‘ous corrosion or pitting. Another concern is cracking in the plastic hub or stator. If not too severe, a few small cracks can be fixed with epoxy adhesive Once all bus wires are connected, you can use cable ties to secure it all together. slliconchip.com.au First cut and strip 6 lengths of 20A insulated wire as shown. ‘These will form our new bus bars. ‘The windings are cut as shown above and reconnected to the six bus bars as shown below. Use different colour wires for the buses to make life easier! Fit a terminal strip to the finished stator. This makes it easier to change from star to delta configuration. JANUARY 2005 18oA ‘a CONRGURATON 90000000 - STAR CONFIGURATION ‘The difference between delta and star configurations. How you connect them is up to you~ basically, you get more current but lower voltage with a delta, ‘configuration and more voltage but less current with a star configuration, ‘Some windmills are arranged to switch from one to the other on demand. Warning: do not place the stator in. for this project. the bub! The hub has a plastic spline ‘Next, Fisher & Paykel ruloasod a and retaining nut designed to slowly 0.8mm’ wiro version and tho latst feed the hub over the stator whileitis model is wound with 0.6mm wire sfllattached tothe washing machine These are the most common and (orwindmill), There isa strong mag: both versions aro ideal for our wind netic attraction betwen the two and — gondrator its easy to get your fingers jammod. When spun by hand the alternator ‘And if you do end up with a stator can produce over 100VAC. Even at this and hub stuck togethor, its quite dif Tow spood tho voltage is too high for ficult to separate thom, charging a battery bank, not to mon- me tion dangerous. Wo nood to mako a Rewiring the stator fevw changes to get this voltago down In factory form, the statoris wound toa useful level and, at the same timo, 4s a S-phase star winding, each leg increase output current. consisting of 14 poles wired in series This is done by cutting the inter- to give 42 poles total. connecting wires between the stator ‘There are currently threebasictypes poles and reconnecting them into a of Fisher & Paykel stators available. new configuration. By doing this the Tho early’ models were wound with altemator can be wired for charging Imm wire and are not recommended 12V, 24V or 48V battery banks, 18 SiICON Cup ‘We will look at a configuration for charging 12V batteries, this being the most common. Once again, remember this sories of articles is dosigned to Jet you experiment with windmill gonorators, $0 the following isa sug- gestion only. For our 12V setup woneod to rewire tho stator into seven pole groups, each with six poles. Bach group generatos S-phase powar and by connecting the groups in parallel, we cen increase the output current seven times. ‘We also have the option of connect- ing the S-phase groups as either a star ordelta configuration. Putsimply, star produces more voltage, less current and dolta produces less voltago and ‘more current. Its possible toaulomati- cally switch from star to dolta as the ‘windmill spoods up but we will leave this for another day: Starting ftom the factory fitted spade connectors, cut the stator windings as shown. You might find it helpful to ‘use a small screwdriver to lift the in- terconnecting wires for easior access You should ond up with 42 wire ends, cach about 20mm long Strip 5mm of the enamel coating from each wire with a sharp knife, sandpaper, or you can do what do and use a small blow torch to caro- fully burn off the enamel and then sandpaper to finish Next you need six lengths of wire, about 700mm long. Use wire capable of20A (alength of 7-core trailer wireis porfect). Use different coloured wires if possible as it will make identifica- tion af the phasos a lot easier, Each wire needs to be stripped in seven places at 70mm intervals ~ theso will be our bus wires. ‘Now lay down the Brstbus wireand solder the first lead ofeach pole group. Repeat the process for the remaining 5 wires, After you have soldered all the sgroupstothebus wires, usesome cable ties to secure the bus wires together Finally, add a terminal block to the end of the bus wires. Once the stator has boon ro-conlig- tured, you nood to protect it from the weather with acouple of coats of paint. ‘The plastic used in the P&P motors is subject to UV damage ‘That's not much of problem when hhidcion under a washing machine but it's a roal concor on a windmill. So paint the stator and hub with @ UV resistant exterior paint, Make sure tha sliconchip.com.aumC nur 2enpce ects Above: two 35A bridge rectifiers, mounted on suitable heatsinks, can be ‘connected to rectify the 3-phase output of the alternator. Not the diodes in the second bridge are unused butt that two of ‘a cheap way to go! Left: use this configuration ifyou have a rectifier assembly from an old ‘ear alternator ‘or wish to ust individual high- power ect ‘diodes. The diodes need a rating of at least 15-404 or mor poles ends are properly sealed against ‘water ingress, as tho Taminations can easily rust Delta vs Star configurations ‘There are two possible ways to con- nect the six output leads. From the factory, the F&P motor is configured ‘sa star winding, so I would leave it in this configuration and use it as a starting point. Once youhave completed and testod your windmill, you can try changing the connection to a delta to see how it afects performance. Rectifying the output ‘Now that we have our 3-phase AG alternator, we need to convart this to DC for charging batteries, If you have a old car alternator sitting in the junk pile, then pull it ‘part and use the diode pack as your rectifier. These diode packs are built very tough (they need to be to survive nan engine bay) and can handle 50 Another option is to use two heavy duty bridge rectifiers (such as a 3504), ‘or you could just buy six single automotive diodes and wire them together. Bither way, the rectifier needs to bbe able to handle 30A or more. And remember, all diodes will need a hoatsink. ‘Noxt month we will look at the con- struction of the windmill platform and tail. The platform is supplied as laser cut steel components and requires some welding. Onceassembled, it provides strong, mounting frame between the alterna: tor, propeller and mast and includes a self-furling tail to safely turn the windmill out ofthe wind during strong gusts or storms. so NEXT MONTH ‘The windmill platform In amongst scads of really neat alternative energy gear on their website (www.airaus.com) Aimarine Australia have a number of wind turbine alternators ranging from the 300W Ampair Pacific, through the 1.6kW Bergey XL1 (pictured right) and right up to 3, 5, 10 and 20kW Westwind, Wind Turbines. ‘The Bergey model shown has a rotor diameter of 2.5m and is intended for the off.grid home market. Rated power Is 1kW, or 1.6KW peak, with an output of 24V DC. ‘The XL1 combines a number of advanced technical features, including a completely new airol, to provide the highest efficiency yet achieved in a small wind turbine. “The XL1 is an up-wind, horizontal-axis, three-bladed turbine. The blades are pultruded fibreglass, a material that Is over ten times stronger than the injection-molded plastic used on most small wind turbines. In fac, pultrusions have a breaking strength exceeding 100,000 psi, which is twice as strong as normal steel ‘The blades attach directly to a specialy-designed very- low-speed permanent magnet alternator which uses state- of-the-art neodymium super-magnets. Low wind speed per-formance is greatly enhanced by 4 low-end-boost circuit that optimally loads the wind tur- Another commercial wind turbine alternative Airmarine Australia bine down to wind speeds as low as 2.5mis, Combined with the new blade system, this circuitry allows the XL.1 to produce useful power more than 6000 hours year at a typical site. For reference, a typical solar system produces power 3500 hoursa year ata typi cal site The XL. is priced ataround $3500 (vari- ous options are available) and is offered with an easy-to- install tubular ti-up tower kit in heights trom 9m to 32m, offering a complete ‘ready to install" kit, Price of a 10m tower, engineer-certified to withstand howiing gales, is about $1800 Contact Airmarine Australia on (08) 9459 2888, website wwnwalraus.com, or email grd@hotkey.netau. silconchip.com.au Janvany 2005 17